The trio, two men and a woman from Melbourne, were arrested on January 29 in the port city of Guayaquil, south-west of capital city Quito.

All three are believed to have spent the past seven weeks in custody in Guayaquil.

They insist the drugs were planted in their bags when they checked in at an airport.

Court documents show one of the men is Youssef El Houli, who goes by the name Joseph.

The identity of the other alleged traffickers could not be confirmed. It is understood the woman is Mr El Houli's girlfriend, and the other man is a friend of the couple.

It is thought the cocaine was seized from Mr El Houli. The drugs were destroyed on February 9 after being photographed as evidence, according to the court documents.

In Ecuador, possessing more than five kilograms of cocaine has a maximum penalty of 10 to 13 years imprisonment.

The trio could serve their sentences inside squalid cells crowded with dozens of other inmates, including some from feared Mexican crime gangs, while being forced to pay for basic necessities such as a bed, food and water.

Ecuador, and particularly Guayaquil, is increasingly being used as a smuggling route by cocaine traffickers, including the infamous Sinaloa cartel.

Mr El Houli has links to a significant Melbourne organised crime figure and alleged drug trafficker, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

Mr El Houli's family declined to comment, but are understood to have been kept in the dark for several weeks about his arrest.

Police say Mr El Houli was detected at the airport in Guayaquil with drugs in his luggage. He told them the drugs were not in his bag when he left the city for the airport.

According to the court documents, a lawyer for Mr El Houli told police his client had not resisted arrest once the drugs were detected, and insisted he knew nothing about them.

In South America, it is not uncommon for passengers to be intercepted at their boarding gate for a second baggage review, with luggage searched by authorities in front of the passenger.

Mr El Houli will remain in custody until his next court appearance on April 4. His lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.

Fairfax Media has been told the organised crime figure ??? influential in Melbourne's north-west, and part of Mr El Houli's extended family ??? is suspected of helping plan the expedition.

If confirmed, it could further strain relations in the family, with the crime figure also blamed for the shooting death of another relative in 2015. The crime figure is believed to have been the intended target of the shooting.

A successful importation of cocaine from Ecuador could net the trafficker hundreds of thousands of dollars, depending on the purity of the drug.

"It looks like they got greedy," the source said.

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman confirmed that three Australians detained in Ecuador had been offered consular assistance, but said that due to privacy obligations she could not comment further.

It is not the first time Ecuador has been linked to alleged cocaine traffickers from Australia.

A Sydney-based syndicate caught by police on Christmas Day is suspected of attempting to arrange a 606 kilogram shipment from Ecuador in February last year.

Last March, New Zealander Scott Elliott was caught at Quito Airport in Ecuador with two kilograms of cocaine in his suitcase. He was sentenced to 30 months jail.

Elliott initially claimed he had been framed, and then said he thought he had been transporting cash, not drugs.

He has also spoken of the dreadful conditions in prison before he was sentenced, and claimed he had to pay his lawyer $2000 to bribe a prosecutor, who in turn ensured Elliott received a lesser sentence and was not deported to New Zealand, where he faces outstanding charges.

Last year's UN World Drug Report found Ecuador accounted for more South American cocaine seizures than any country other than Colombia.